nanowrimo

The question in the lagoon this month has been: What’s the one thing you cannot write without?

We’ve had a plethora of fabulous answers from writers all over the world. Today’s answer comes from Alethea’s favorite Troubadorious Noise Maker: Adam Ezra

The Adam Ezra Group released TWO live CDs this month. You can get both albums, signed by the band, by clicking this link right here. Trust me, you won’t regret it.

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My answer is “honesty.”

This answer may seem ironic, because simply put, it’s not true.

I can write a good lie as well as the next guy…

But for me…in order to be the kind of writer I want to be, I think it requires me to be brutally honest in the words I share with the people who receive the art I create. I want to write from the place that is embarrassed by the way I look, and smell, and act sometimes. I want to write from the place that is so very proud… Read the Rest…

I’ve tried writing fiction longhand, and it’s just too slow. It doesn’t matter if the keyboard is on a laptop or attached to a desktop computer or a tablet, or if I’m working on a word processor like my Alphasmart Neo — I just need keys to transfer words from my brain to a file!

I prefer clicky keys on a mechanical keyboard, the louder the better, but I can adjust to just about anything if I have to… even a chiclet keyboard.

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E(ugene).C. Myers is the author of the Andre Norton Award–winning Fair Coin and Quantum Coin, young adult science fiction novels published by Pyr, and The Silence of Six, a young adult cyber thriller from Adaptive Books.

The question in the lagoon this month: What’s the one thing you cannot write without?

Today’s answer comes from fabulous YA author and current resident of Germany [WHY DOES SHE HAVE TO BE SO FAR AWAY???–Alethea] : Amber Lough.

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One thing I cannot write without? That’s hard because I have been forced to be quite adaptable. Honestly, I can write on napkins on a boat if I have to. The ONE thing I must have is an alert brain. If I am sleepy at ALL, I will fall asleep on my keyboard.

It’s boring, but it’s the truth. I’ve been known to fall asleep mid-word and dream about the scene I’m writing about. The more rested I am, however, the better I can write.

The one thing I feel I can’t write without is my noise-cancelling headphones.

When I wear them, my world suddenly shrinks and I feel more focused on what is in front of me. It doesn’t matter if I’m furiously typing on a keyboard or scribbling in a notebook, either. Being able to control peripheral noise has been one of the best things that ever happened to me.

It rocks!

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Monica Valentinelli is a writer, editor, and game developer who lurks in the dark. She writes both original and media tie-in fiction and works on games and comics, too. To date, she has over six dozen creative credits with more on the way. She is known for her work as the lead writer and developer for the award-winning line… Read the Rest…

The question in the lagoon this month: What’s the one thing you cannot write without?

Today’s answer comes from the Waterworld Mermaids’ very own Kerri Carpenter.

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I have to keep this short and sweet today. Why? Because it’s NaNo month of course.

Wait, you don’t know what NaNo is? Allow me to explain. Writers from all over the galaxy are trying to write at least 50,000 words during the month of November. Intense, right?

Even more crazysauce is that the Waterworld Mermaids are in a tight competition with the writers over at Romance on the Rocks. Who can write the most words? Fingers crossed for the lagoon! Now, back to the question at hand.

The one thing I absolutely, under no circumstances, no way Jose, cannot write without is… Music!

I started writing stories the same year the first Mac came out and so literally I’ve never not written on anything other than a computer.I think about trying to write on a typewriter and it makes me want to run screaming into the night.

So, yes. A computer, please.

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John Scalzi is the most excellent author of Redshirts and Old Man’s War and a ton of other really great SF books. He’s the proprietor of the Whatever website, and as much fun to hang out with at conventions as he is online. He lives in Ohio with his supergoddess wife Krissy, ultrafabulous daughter Athena, one dog, one cat, and two brand new kittens (be sure to follow him online to see all the fabulous… Read the Rest…

Whenever you hear professional writers – I’m talking about those writers who are revising a novel under deadline and outlining a new one while simultaneously doing a press tour for a book due to be released any second – speak about writing, you hear one advice come up very often: “Abandon all rituals. Forget about the special pens, notebooks and time of day. Write – it doesn’t matter when, where or how.” It’s damn good advice; gets things done.

I didn’t take it to heart when I first started, of course, because writing is an act of inspiration, OK? You’re an artist – the recipient of a rare gift. You can’t just sit down and write. No, you have to gather all the ingredients, wait for the right hour and use the right instruments to reach the… Read the Rest…

Several years ago, I was in a writing group for a short period of time. Each time we got together, I would circulate my works in progress to the other members and usually two or three of them would circulate their works.

Invariably, several people would circulate excuses. “I didn’t have the time.” or “My computer was down.” I kept thinking “You had a deadline. You find the time. You make the time.” or “You didn’t have a pencil? A pen? Paper? A receipt?”

I’ve written things on my phone if that was the only way to get the words down and I’ve remembered things I’ve wanted to write by repetitive memory so that they would stick with me until I got to a computer or paper. So there are very few specific physical things… Read the Rest…

One thing, says Alethea. One thing. The. One. Thing. You need to write.

I love her. But this was hard. Until I realized I could make a tiny tweak to our theme. Maybe it’s not the “end all, be all” of writing necessities, but I’ll tell you what, I do much better in its comfy embrace. Without the nighttime, my words would be like sad little kids sitting on a bone-dry slip ‘n’ slide with a water hose stuck in the yard across the street guarded by a frothy-mouthed attack monster of your choice.

Man, that’s not a pretty scene. But hopefully this poem is. Thank you for letting me share why I love to write at night…